CAIRO: The Egyptian foreign minister says the decision to put off a conference this month of Mediterranean nations was not Egypt s alone but a collective move by the Arab League.

Ahmed Aboul Gheit says Arab states decided not to go ahead with the Nov. 27 gathering because Israel s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was to participate.

Aboul Gheit spoke on Monday. He denounced his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, for blaming Egypt for the snub. The Mediterranean Union is a group of 43 countries including the 27 European Union states, Israel and North African countries.

France hosted the group s first summit in 2008, when Arabs and Israel sat at the same table. Since then, Israel s government changed and the hardline Lieberman has been poorly received internationally. -AP